Overordnede mål
Strong community organisation and advocacy for quality education and improved literacy competencies of children in rural communities in the Dagbon traditional area.
Umiddelbare mål
1. Communities and civil society groups are actively engaging education managers and stakeholders for effective delivery of quality basic education in the Dagbon traditional area. 2. Reversing poor learning outcomes in basic schools.
Målgrupper
Primary school pupils attending primary 2 and primary 3 are direct beneficiaries of the intervention; a total of 1,200 per year divided over 20 communities. The communities at large will be directly affected by community advocacy groups which will be formed in 20 rural communities divided over two Districts. They are representatives of traditional leaders, PTAs, women groups, religious groups, etc. Community literacy workers will be appointed and thus also be beneficiaries of the project as well as the teachers from Ghana Education Service who will be trained in instructing mother tongue education. Students and tutors from Colleges of education who will participate in workshops and fora to understand the full scope of the language-in-education policy and link theory on reading instruction to evidence based practices. A group called Concerned Dagomba Citizens who is made of teachers, politicians, linguists, writers, traditional singers, development workers, etc. will also be beneficiaries since they will be given a platform to share their concerns and seek solutions within the larger Dagomba community. Traditional authorities will be approached and made aware of the low literacy achievement levels of children in primary schools and the implications for the development of Dagbon. Traditional authorities will use gatherings and platforms to advocate for and use their influence to call on policy makers and government institutions for equality in education, especially in the rural communities of Dagbon.
Resume
This intervention seeks to address the basic human rights of primary school children in Dagbon (northern Ghana) who are denied receiving reading instruction in their mother tongue, a language they understand. Even though in Ghana there is a language-in-education policy which states that children should receive reading instruction in their mother tongue, most children are forced to read in English, a language they do not understand. As a result, many children do not develop basic reading skills; only 20% of children finishing primary school are able to read. Low educational outcomes in this part of Ghana hinder development and sustain poverty. Through community organisation, capacity building, awareness raising, and advocacy for quality education this intervention seeks to put pressure on state stakeholders in education, to deliver quality education for children in Dagbon which should include mother tongue reading instruction and so improve literacy competencies of primary school children. This proposed intervention is an outcome of a pilot intervention implemented by Literacy and Development through Partnership in partnership with Wycliffe Denmark and with support from CISU from April 2018 – March 2020.